A variety of machines in which clothes may be hung and processed in a single unit have been proposed. There are a series of patents that require the use of solvents for dry cleaning garments, for example U.S. Pat. No. 2,845,786, issued to E. L. Chrisman on Aug. 5, 1958; U.S. Pat. No. 3,166,923 issued to Zacks on Jan. 26, 1965; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,741,113, issued to Norkus on Apr. 10, 1056. The use of solvents, especially in the home, can create health and safety issues.
There are additional patents that claim a machine in which the clothes are “finished” only. These patents are directed toward de-wrinkling and smoothing the clothes, typically by using steam. However, these machines do not clean the clothes, these machines are used after the clothes are already clean. Some examples of these devices are seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,707,855 issued to Buckley on Jan. 2, 1973; U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,602 issued to Stichnoth et al. on Jul. 5, 1983; U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,496 issued to Buckly et al. on Jun. 19, 1973; U.S. Pat. No. 3,732,628 issued to Bleven et al. on May 15, 1973; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,305 issued to Ochiai on Aug. 2, 1988. U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,346 issued to Chen et al. on Feb. 20, 2001 discloses a clothes treating apparatus that uses a “conditioning mist” as an alternative to dry-cleaning clothes. This patent does not provide for washing clothes with water or rinsing the clothes.
In addition, some patents claim machines that only dry clothes, and do not wash or finish the clothes: for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,257,739 issued to Wentz on Jun. 28, 1966; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,102,796 issued to Erickson on Sep. 3, 1963.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,114,919 issued to Kenreich on Dec. 24, 1963 discloses a machine that can wash and dry using conventional laundry soap, however, this apparatus can only wash one shirt, or the like, and one pair of pants, or the like, at a time. In addition, this patent discloses an apparatus that has fixed outlets for dispensing wash and rinse water. This patent, like U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,159 issued to Mazza on May 23, 1972, utilizes a shaking of the garments to remove dirt and debris from the garments. However, shaking the garments can cause the garments to fall during the wash cycle, and can impart wrinkles to the garments. In addition, these patents teach that the wash water is applied from the top and bottom of the clothing, and not along the length of the clothing.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,188 issued to Geschka et al. on Jun. 27, 1972 discloses an apparatus that uses conventional laundry soap water, and hot air to wash and dry clothes. However, in this patent the soap and water are applied to the garments from top and bottom nozzles. Likewise, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,835 issued to Todd-Reeve on Mar. 4, 1975, the water and soap are applied from nozzles located near the top and bottom of the apparatus. In neither of these apparatuses is the soap and water applied over the entire length of the garments.